


They meet at Jakku

by Anaztazia



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate universe - Ben isn't Kylo(yet?), Angst, Drama, F/M, Force Bond, Friend to Lover, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Jedi Love, Lightsaber, Nightmare, Slow Burn, They met on Jakku, Yavin4, jedi academy, praxeum, rose is a jedi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 17:38:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15491151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anaztazia/pseuds/Anaztazia
Summary: Three years after the Bond went inactive, padawan Ben and scavenger Rey met on Jakku.Life had a lot in store for them.





	They meet at Jakku

"Here it is, the map of the First Order Base." Lor San Tekka extracted a small small leather sack from inside his coat and held it out to the young man in front of him.

"Thanks, Lor." Ben took it with a small smile.

"How is your uncle? I'm surprised that he didn't come here himself." The old man noted after taking a sip of his tea.

"He's fine, but he's quite busy at the moment." Ben Solo replied, his fingers tracing patterns on an empty tea cup.

"More?" Lor asked, gesturing at the teapot on the nearby table.

"No thanks. I think I should get going now, before the F-" He was cut short by the raised alarm.

"It's them, isn't it?" Ben asked. They looked at each other, their expression grim.

"It's very likely. Ben, you must go. Hide that file. Destroy it yourself if you have to. Don't let them know we have it. Go!"

They emerged from the hut. People were everywhere, running, shouting, preparing their blasters. He slipped past the crowd and sprinted toward his freighter, with a sinking sensation in his gut. The villagers would not stand a chance. Not against the Forse Order.

He jumped into his ship and raced to the cockpit. He was activating the controls when the Force sent him a warning.

"Don't. They will shoot you down in five seconds flat. Run!"

He did, barely remembered to get the emergency comlink on his way out. They could send someone to pick up the ship later, if it wasn't destroyed along with the village.

He ran out from the ramp. He noticed white bodies of the stormtroopers already started invading the village. He had to get away from here. As much as he hated running away from battle, this one was necessary. Data in his hand was too important to risk. He ran, he didn't know where he was going. He just let the Force guide him toward what he hoped was safety.

He listened to the Force, allowing it to run through his body. He was one with the Force. He was a part of something bigger than himself. It calmed him down, soothed him.

Then he felt it, a disturbance in the Force. It was like a blaster shot jolting him back to the grim reality. Lives were snuffed out at the village. This was not a battle after all, it was a massacre.

A lone tear, slid down his face at the unfairness of it. They did nothing wrong. He quickly wiped the tear away. Control, he thought. Control. Now was not the time to grieve.

"Let's go." He told the Force.

-LINEBREAKER-

Someone was coming to her home, someone uninvited. She dashed to a small, well-hidden compartment in the Walker's rear, a safe place to hide and evaluate the situation, her hand clutching her staff tightly.

The sound of footstep on the metal surface announced the intruder's arrival. She climbed and sat on the lid of a broken fuel cell that took up almost all space of the secret room she was in to keep an eye on the trespasser.

It was tall and humanoid, shrouded in a hood. She could only see that much. It was so dim she wished she kept that night vision goggle instead of trading them for ration.

It moved quietly, barely made a sound weaving its way inside her home.

Closer, just a little closer, she thought.

The figure moved forwarf as if it heard her thought. Perfect. She leaped from her hiding place and swung her staff at the figure aiming to knock it unconscious.

It grabbed the end of her staff and twisted, making her drop the weapon. Its other hand reaching for something from its belt. It lunged toward her, a laser sword in its hand.

Damn, she was dead.

Then it froze. With a faint hissing sound, the blue blade disappeared.

The hooded figure knelt down in front of her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't..." The voice trailed off.

"I-I must have terrified you. But I promise, this won't hurt. It's better this way. Safer for you."

She didn't answer. She didn't even understand half of what he was saying.

"You'll forget you saw a lightsaber.", the man said.

"What?" She exclaimed. This man broke into her home, almost killed her with a laser sword and he just ordered her the lightsaber.

"You'll forget you saw a lightsaber." He repeated. This time she felt _it_. A subtle brush against her mind, luring her to comply.

She recognized it as what it was--a Jedi mind trick. She knew she should get angry at the stranger for what he tried to do, yet she couldn't. For he was anything but a stranger to her. She felt it when their mind touched. The slight brush told her what she needed to know.

She wasn't the only one who felt it, she could tell. As she felt a pair of arms envelope her in a bone-crushing hug.

She savoured the embrace. When was the last time someone held her like this? Three years, that's likely, since she came to Jakku.

She clinged to him. She was afraid  this was a dream, that he would disappear when she woke up. "Tell me this is real. Tell me I'm not dreaming."

"I'm here, Rey. I'm here with you. You're not dreaming." Ben affirmed.  He squeezed her arm lightly before he pulled away. "Maybe you should turn on the light, it's quite dark here."

"Oh, right." She said, switching on the lightbulb.

"Wow, you've grown up a lot. My little girl is not so little anymore." His face stretched into a rare grin.

"I'm not a 'little girl'. I'm thirteen." She protested.

He smirked. "That's young. Being with you makes me feel like an old man."

"That's only because you complain so much." She retorted.

"Touché." Ben grumbled. "Where are your parents?''

"They're not here." She said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know where they are. They sent me here about a week after your last... visit. But they'll come back for me. One day."

"Will they?" He asked in quiet voice.

"They will. They promised." But she felt like she was reaffirming herself, not answering Ben's question.

"Really? You don't even believe it yourself."

"What do you want?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Look at me in the eyes and tell me that they will come back. You _know_ them, Rey."

He was right and she hated him for that. Damn him. He knew her too well. He knew she couldn't do it. She let silence fall between them.

"Search your feeling, Rey. You'll find the truth."

Deep down, very deep down, she knew what she would find. She always hung on to a notion that she could be wrong, that she was mistaken.

"They're dead." She whispered, finally admitted the truth to herself. It tasted like bitter poison in her mouth. She had been clinging on to a hope, a forlorn one for years that her parents would come back for her, to get her away from this hellhole. It was a hope that fueled her through tiring days, sleepless nights. But it was impossible now. They _were_ dead.

Their death hit her hard, like a blow to her chest, knocking breath out of her.

"Are you all right?" She could feel Ben move toward her.

No, she wasn't. The truth hurt. That was why she carefully hid it from herself. she knew that she would not be able to bear it alone, it would _break_ her. But now that Ben was here, she couldn't hide it anymore. She couldn't continue fooling herself.

She sunk down on the floor, her eyes burnt hot with unshed tears. Ben sat cross-legged next to her, rubbing soothing circle on her back. "It's ok. You can cry. You're not alone. I'm here."

That was enough to make her undone. She surged to him, tears came down as the dam inside her broke.

She climbed up to sit in his lap and buried her head into his shoulder.

"It's alright. It will be alright." Ben rocked her back and forth. They sat like that until the crying subsided. Ben looked down to find her asleep in his shoulder. He smiled sadly to himself as he lifted her in his arms, trying not to wake her in the process. He slowly lowered her on the mattress Just like old time, he felt a twinge of nostalgia.

"Stay with me." She murmured, when he started to pull away. "Don't wanna lose you too."

Ben settled on the edge of the mattress, resting his back on the metal wall of the AT-AT. Rey snuggled closer, resting her head on his lap. He used the Force to turn off the light and finally slept after a long day he had.

-LINEBREAKER-

Sunlight shone through the window, rousing Rey from sleep. It seemed like she overslept today. She usually woke up before the sun rose and started working earlier than most scavengers as the temperature was lower and it meant she could come home earlier.

But she didn't want to get up today, it was so comfortable.  Something wiggled underneath her head, something cozy and warm. Wait--warm? Her pillow was not warm. She opened her eyes then. No, it was not a pillow, it was Ben's lap.

"Good morning." Ben said, his voice slurred with sleep.

"Good morning." It was. Despite what happened last night, she felt freer. Like a heavy burden was lifted from her shoulders.

Ben stretched his legs, wiggling his toes. "Your head was heavy. You grew up too fast." He complained as he got up.

"Look who's talking. You could past for a lamp post." She retorted.

He rolled his eyes but didn't replied.

"So why do you come here?" Rey asked.

"Secret Jedi plan concerning the First Order went wrong. But I have a feeling the Force has something to do with this." He answered. "Rey, I have to go back soon. Come with me, please. Your parents are gone. You don't have any reason to be here anymore. You have no future here."

"Where would I go, then?" She asked.

"You can train to be a Jedi if you want. You are strong with the Force, stronger than anyone I know. Or you can go to another academy, learn to be a pilot. I won't force you to be a Jedi. I just want you to be away from here, this is not a place to leave."

She thought about her life on Jakku. Scavenging, surviving. Ben was right. There was nothing she would miss here, she decided. She looked at Ben. He was waiting for her answer, his brown eyes pleading silently.

"I will go with you." Rey said. "When will we leave?"

"Today, if that's possible. I can't use my starship. Do you know where can we find one?" Ben replied.

"You know what? The Falcon is here "

"Really? Father told me he searched for her everywhere in the galaxy. So he was just bragging then." He had a wicked grin on his face. "Do you know who own it?"

"Unkar Plutt, the owner of Niima outpost" She replied. "But there's no way that he's going to sell that."

"We'll see." Ben said, that mischievous look still on his face.

"Don't tell me you're going to use that Jedi mind trick. Isn't that against the code?" She gave him a disapproving look.

"I never say that I'm going to use it." He said, sounding too innocent.

-LINEBREAKER-

They arrived at Niima Outpost around midday. It was decided that Ben would  _talk_ to Unkar Plutt while Rey waited nearby, as the junk boss could remember her and it might roused suspicion.

Her meager belongings were packed in a small rucksack on her back. She took a look at the desert world around her, with a feeling that it would be the last in years to come but she felt no  sense of loss. Jakku was not her home, she didn't belong here.

"Let's go!" Ben said from behind her. "We might not have long." The last sentence was not any louder than a whisper.They strode toward the Falcon as fast as they could without breaking into a run.

"It looks a lot grimier than I remembered." Ben mumbled as they neared the ship. "Let's hope the inside was in better condition."

It wasn't. Rey followed him to the cockpit. He sat in the pilot seat.

"Can you fly?" He asked Rey without turning to look at her, his hand reached out to activate several controls. The console came to life.

"I think so." She replied.

"Then sit here, I could use a co-pilot." He gestured at the the seat on his right. "Don't forget to fasten the belt." He went through the standard pre-lift sequence. Rey heard a low rumple of the engine that made her sigh in relief.

There was not much control on the co-pilot side. Mostly shield controls, hyperdrive system and ship stats.

The ship lurched into the air. Most part of the ship was still functioning. "The hyperdrive is still working.", Rey noted.

"Prepare it then. To Yavin 4." Ben said.

"Working on it. Here we go." Rey said. Stars around them stretched out into bright blue lines as they jumped to hyperspace. She felt bile rising from the back of her throat. "I'm going to be sick." It was a nauseating experience.

"Fresher is the second one on the right." Ben called out as Rey darted out from the cockpit.

He put the Falcon in autopilot before going after her.

"Are you all right? It takes some times to get used to." He said as Rey came out of the fresher looking a bit too pale.

"You should lie down for a while. It will help." He helped her into one of the bunks.

-LINEBREAKER-

"Rey, wake up! I need your help."

She arrived at the cockpit to see Ben flicking switches on the control panel. "We've been tracked."

"It's impossible. We're in hyperspace."

"But it's happening. You see that signal?" Ben was pointing at the spot on the visual screen. "It is not the ship's. It's third-party signal generator. I can't deactivate it."

"Reroute the ship to Coruscant. I have to contact Master Luke and mother."

Rerouting in hyperspace was tricky. Not complicated, but tricky. You had to be accurate. One minute too soon, you could smash into a planet at lightspeed. One minute too late, you could be sucked in a black hole forever.

Rey took a deep breath. This was it. She pulled the lever. Blue lines of hyperspace blurred together before came back to focus again.

Relieve coursed through her. One unnecessary source of painful death to worry about.

Ben slipped back to the bridge. "Don't worry. The First Order is just its usual sneaky, paranoid self. But we have to be extra careful though. Rerouting success?"

She nodded. "My mother is going to meet us there. I told them I found you on Jakku and you are Force-sensitive. They don't know about our Bond."

"You want to keep it secret?" Rey asked.

"I don't know." Ben said truthfully. "I never have a reason to tell anyone before. It wasn't active for years."

"We have to wait and see then."  Rey said.

Ben yawned.

"You should go get some sleep. Coruscant is still hours away." Rey said.

"Wake me up if anything happens."

-LINEBREAKER-

Fifteen minutes from Coruscant, Rey headed to the bunk room. Ben was still sleeping. "Wake up, Ben. It's time." He didn't stir.

She walked to the bunk he was in and shook him gently.

"Wake up!" She said, louder this time. He still didn't stir.

She frowned. It was strange. Ben was always a light sleeper.

"Is this a prank?" She asked. No answer. "Ben?" She started to be concerned now. "This is not funny." Still no answer. Maybe he was ill. She felt her hand on Ben's forehead. No, he didn't have a fever.

Then why didn't he wake up?

She had around five minutes before the ship went to realspace. She also needed to prepare for landing.

She took Ben's comlink from the nightstand and searched for the message while mentally apologized for invading his privacy. There was one with coordinate. Here. That must be it.

She went to the cockpit to put in the coordinate. The location was on Coruscant. It was a landing area, she hoped. She confirmed the landing location. She programmed the ship to autopilot when it went back to realspace and went back to Ben.

He was still asleep. She raked her mind to find a possible cause. She was shaken out of her thought and feet by a sudden lurch of the ship. She staggered toward the cockpit. The Falcon was back to realspace. But that wasn't the reason the ship rocked so violently. It was because of shots from the TIE fighter. Damn, they followed her from _Jakku_. They didn't hold back on resources both fuel and manpower. The First Order was insane. Yet she couldn't deny that they were clever. They got to know the destination and they also got to kill her.

Buckling herself in the pilot seat, she activated the shield to full strength and disabled autopilotting. The display told her there were five TIE fighters in total, surrounding the Falcon.

She swerved left to avoid the blast. That was a near miss. She had less than one percent chance of outmanoeuvering five TIEs. An idea formed in her head. An insane, half-formed one. But it was better than none.

She sped up the craft, making the craft moved with the highest possible sublight speed. Then she swiped her hand down the control switches, shutting down every function except the life supporting system and the shield. The growl of the engine stopped, light flicked out. The ship was still moving forward in the direction of Coruscant as per second law of motions. The Falcon was not the fastest ship in the the universe for nothing. Velocity made it nigh impossible for the laser canon to hit the ship. Any stray hit was taken care of by the deflector shield. But that was the easy part of the plan.

The Falcon was subjected to Coruscant's gravity as the anti-gravity pull function was disabled. The pull was subtle at first, compared to the velocity of the ship. But as seconds passed it became more and more powerful.

Here came the hard part, pulling up at the right time. She needed luck for this, lots of luck. The Falcon shook as it hit the atmospheric layer of the planet. She flicked the engine and dampener back on to full speed hoping it was not too late to lessen the impact.

Let it work. Please let it work. It was the last thought on her mind as everything went black.


End file.
